


Breath

by stone_in_focus



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dear God I Hope This Doesn't End Up Being Canon, Drabble, Hurt Castiel, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Castiel, POV Second Person, Romance, Season/Series 09, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 02:39:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1370863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stone_in_focus/pseuds/stone_in_focus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And in the end, it all comes down to this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breath

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the various foreshadowing (especially the Cain/Colette parallel) to Something Very Bad happening by the season finale. And yes, I hate myself for writing it.

It’s cold, but Dean is warm.

They’re your consolation prizes as you feel yourself slipping further and further into humanity, the chills rattling their way through your bones and the hands fumbling their way through your hair. Frequent have been the moments you’ve wished for this—the arms that wrap you tight, the unkempt jaw that brushes against the hollow of your cheek, and the mouth that presses to your ear.

But instead of the gentle graze of lips you’ve yearned to kiss and the whispers of promises to keep you here, you only hear the echoes of  _I’m sorry I’m sorry oh God Cas I’m_ — until they deteriorate into the gnashing of teeth against your skin and the incoherent laments of a desperate man.

Strange, how it is, to be looking from the other side of the mirror. To know that these inarticulate groanings have no name, no home, and yet, you feel them as if they’re your own. As if you’ve once again reached down inside of him, clutching his soul to where you’ve never had one to match.

And suddenly, you realize you’ve been holding on just as much as him. You’ve been the Jesus to the demons you put in each other’s heads. And even after the blade’s been long forgotten, the blood pooling at your side as your vessel empties the remnants of your stolen grace, your chest still burns with the ache you’ve had since the moment you pulled him out of hell. The ache that you’ve never been able to put words to until now, when you’re fighting through the tears to find each other’s gaze; when you’re letting him rock you back and forth and wanting nothing more than to curl up inside of him.

Because you’ve been there.

You’ve witnessed it all.

And it’s beautiful. It’s broken and bloody and bare, but it’s beautiful. Because for all his faults and grievances, you’ve seen the person he could be. The person he’s meant to be.

The person he already  _is._

You’re screaming, but the sounds inside your head never manifest into anything more than a gasping for air. It’s unfair. Father, it’s so  _unfair._  You’ve given this man everything— _everything_ —and yet, you know that’s a lie.

There’s still one thing you have left to give.

Your fingers tremble as they reach for his face, the world spinning and going dark around you, but even now, the soft blur of his features stay you like an anchor.

And you exhale.


End file.
